Lalovac: New bond to refinance debt due

The new bond issue of 5.5 billion kuna will be used to refinance the debt due, and the budget deficit this year is expected to be below 10 billion kuna, Finance Minister Boris Lalovac said on Thursday.

"It's a 5.5 billion kuna issue, which is exactly the amount of debt that is maturing. We issued treasury bills the other day, which means that this is not a new borrowing. We cannot borrow money without a budget, and you know that we don't have a new budget, only interim financing. We're only refinancing our current obligations," Lalovac said in response to questions from the press outside the government headquarters.

"This is important for the capital market and for the kuna. We see that the banks have started lending more kuna, which is good. This will contribute to the development of the kuna capital market," he added.

Croatia on Thursday published a prospectus for a kuna bond maturing in 2026. The issue is expected to reach HRK 5.5 billion. An HRK 5.5 billion 10-year bond bearing an interest rate of 5.25% matures on December 15.

"The deficit is currently at its lowest level and I hope that in the next ten or 15 days it will be below 10 billion kuna. Public finances are stable," Lalovac said.

According to provisional data from the Finance Ministry, in the first ten months of 2015 budget revenues reached HRK 88.27 billion and expenditures HRK 94.58 billion, with the budget deficit at HRK 6.31 billion.

Beirut (dpa) - Syrian government forces and their allies advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing the Old City, while demanding the armed opposition groups leave the area.